Football (Soccer) Culture

The match at Wembley Stadium will celebrate the 150th anniversary of England's Football Association and will be the first time the neighbours have met since the 1995 match in Dublin, which was abandoned when English fans rioted.

More than 60,000 people packed into Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta on a recent Saturday night to see the national soccer team play. Another 100 million tuned in to television to watch the match, underlining the appeal of soccer in Indonesia where attendance rivals the top English and German soccer leagues.

How much is a coin toss worth? Can foolishly faking a frivolous flip and flick of a thin metallic disc prove financially tempting? You bet. Five years ago, the going rate was 100,000 yuan (HK$124,000).

Researchers from the University of Leeds found that some school-age footballers were showing signs of chronic stress, exhaustion and disillusion with the sport given the demands for perfection from coaches, parents and teammates.

Unforeseen troubles for referees lie ahead because of the FA's decision to rescind Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany's red card for what match referee Mike Dean deemed to be serious foul play. In undermining his interpretation, the FA has opened Pandora's Box.

The debate over nationalism, racism and football hooliganism, the touchpaper topics overshadowing the Euros, sizzled at Camp Wok before the much anticipated opening match in Warsaw. This wooded, gentrified camping site which serves as the SCMP HQ has now been invaded by Polish, German and English-cum-Irish-cum-Scottish fans - 11 in total.

The opening of a new English Premier League season today will thrill football followers around the globe, not least in Hong Kong. British authorities will also be hoping that the distraction will help defuse the mob psychology behind the worst rioting England has seen for decades.

His antics may have sent revellers wild at last year's Hong Kong Sevens, but the man who led security staff a merry dance when he climbed the goalposts at the Hong Kong Stadium has forced organisers to get tough on people who invade the pitch this year.

Sandton's neon lights are ablaze barely a kilometre from Innisfree Park, the green glow from Johannesburg's glitziest and wealthiest district illuminating the sky above. Below is Nelson Mandela Square, where well-heeled South Africans and foreign visitors congregate to create a cultural melting pot beneath the eponymous statue at the centre of the plaza.